In the world of telecommunications, a party has a number of choices with regards to types of communication. These different types may include such services as synchronous communications, such as voice telephony, over networks such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) or asynchronous communications, such as Instant Messaging, over networks such as the Internet. Emerging technologies, such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) carry telephony over packet networks and present new types of communication service. A party may engage any number of communications service providers in order to employ these types of communications.
In employing the various communication services, via multiple service providers, existing communication networks, such as the PSTN and the Wireless/PCS (Personal Communication Service) Network, either provide very limited service control capabilities, or none at all. Traditional SSP (Service Switching Points) switches and AIN (Advanced Intelligent Network) SCPs (Service Control Points) do indeed have limited static service control with built-in simple management of multiple services. Typically called “feature management,” (i.e., one aspect of service control) the logic that governs service prioritization, however, is statically defined and often even built into the processing system environment on the SSP or SCP. Neither support dynamic insertion (i.e., installation and activation) of new services—much less from multiple providers across multiple domains—that is, services that were conceived and built after the service control logic was deployed. As such, plug ‘n’ play of new services with intelligent service inter-working may not be possible.
Similarly, existing data and multimedia communications systems, such as the Internet-based networks or specific consumer video delivery systems, provide a predominantly single-application-to-single-service capability. Historically this relationship was very rigid, for example, an email application provided a capability to exchange email—an email service; a file transfer application provided the capability to exchange files—a file transfer service; and a web browser provided the capability to access web-page servers.
Currently, there is a trend to bundle multiple service capabilities into single (“multiservice”) applications (e.g., Microsoft Internet Explorer with Web Browser, Email and Net-News capabilities, or Netscape Navigator with similar capabilities, including Instant Messaging), however, these applications only integrate the user interface to multiple, disparate services with minor levels of integration between the individual services, e.g., a shared address book or web access direct from links contained in email messages. Also, these applications still exhibit the same restrictions as the PSTN, that is, there is limited, if any, capability to dynamically insert new services. In addition, most of the “service integration” is performed by software in the customer equipment/network, or in individual application servers, and not in the service provider network.
Finally, there is only very limited service interaction between traditional PSTN and current data/multimedia or other telecommunications environments, e.g., Wireless/PCS. Examples of these interactions would be services such as “Internet Call Waiting”, “TV Caller ID”, “Wireless Extension”, “Click-to-Dial” web pages and emerging Internet Telephony to PSTN Gateway capabilities. Again, the ability to support dynamic insertion of new services in this combined environment is non-existent.
Similarly, existing feature management systems do not provide a method and system to integrate, or dynamically merge, profile information from multiple services, and or multiple providers. This includes everything from service configuration parameters and customer preferences to more complex lists with associated actions. For example, most people today use multiple devices (and services) that each have their own “directory” of other people (e.g. address/phone book, screening list, hot-dial list, e-mail list, . . . ) where each entry might have one or more parameters or actions associated with it. The lack of an inter-service schema and method to merge these disparate profiles causes end-users to re-enter the same data for each service. In addition, each service presents a different user interface limited to the profile information it cares about, rather than an integrated interface across services and service providers.
Today, enhanced services augment basic call control through a predefined (static) set of events and messages. The Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) capability of the PSTN is an example of this wherein predefined triggers (events) generate predefined messages that are replayed to an adjunct processor (the SCP) to determine what action should occur. In turn, the static (compiled) feature manager in the SCP is only able to filter the predefined set of messages and based on its hard-coded logic initiate a specific service. It is not able to process events or messages defined by new services or new transport control capabilities. Therefore, service control is static, limited, and not extensible.
Further limitations of today's feature managers exist in their proprietary service creation and execution environments. It is not easy, and in some cases not possible, to deploy services created by multiple service providers in a single service creation-execution environment. In addition, it is not possible to deploy those services across different domains—for example, one within an ILEC (Incumbant Local Exchange Carrier) local network, another within a inter-exchange carrier network.
And finally, existing feature managers don't work in a distinct functional layer of service control with open inter-operable interfaces between the feature manager and individual services, or between the feature manager and transport control (of transport, switching, routing, and transmission).
Beyond traditional SSPs and SCPs few other systems provide any kind of service control, including IP (Internet Protocol) application servers. Some emerging technologies may offer more in the way of static service registration and control, but these are based on predefined prioritization and processing rules. Given the static, limited, and closed capabilities of feature managers today, there exists a need to provide dynamic service integration and management.
As we look to the future, a multi-technology-infrastructure environment, consisting of legacy PSTN-AIN, Wireless/PCS Voice and Data, Voice over Asynchronous Transfer Mode (VoATM), Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Gigabit Ethernet access, Consumer Video and a full set of Internet-based data and multimedia services will exist. This combined environment will be much more valuable with convergence toward an integrated multi-service environment providing dynamic service integration and management. In order to provide this guidance, an open and systematic architecture that integrates services with powerful services control functionality, capable of addressing these limitations and constraints is required.